Middle Holocene

"The Quaternary literature reveals a widespread but variable informal usage of a tripartite division of the Holocene (‘early’, ‘middle’ or ‘mid’, and ‘late’), and we argue that this de facto subdivision should now be formalized to ensure consistency in stratigraphic terminology. We propose an Early–Middle Holocene Boundary at 8200 a BP and a Middle–Late Holocene Boundary at 4200 a BP, each of which is linked to a Global Stratotype Section and Point (GSSP)."

ABSTRACT This paper reviews the various Late Quaternary records that are available from western Egypt and northern Sudan, which includes more than 500 published radiocarbon dates and various sedimentary archives from local landscape components, including palaeolakes, soils, drainages (wadis), and archaeological sites. This palaeoenvironmental compilation frames the spatial and temporal context of local cultural activities when the region was most hospitable B9000–6000 BP; at this time, monsoonal weather influenced the portion of the African continental interior, creating enough convective rainfall for occasional surface water storage. In this part of the modern Sahara, rapid hydroclimatic changes play a key role in geomorphic evolution and resource availability. As ‘watering holes’ formed and dried up in the Early to Middle Holocene, Neolithic people developed various subsistence strategies, including opportunistic hunting of small animals (e.g. gazelle and hare), and food-related (e.g. wild sorghum, millet, and legumes) activities: gathering, plant cultivation and livestock-rearing. During its wettest phases during the ‘monsoonal maximum,’ the area was drought-prone, sustaining a meager steppe– shrub desert flora. Further desertification and aeolian deflation during the Middle and Late Holocene fostered technological innovation,
migration and settlement, as well as the further development of agrarian communities and complex culture.

Settlement on the river: Risk or opportunity? Primary natural relief, topography before urbanization and flood exposure before genesis of the city of Pirna alongside the river Elbe

The flood disaster that occurred in 2002 at the river Elbe in Saxony, flooded like his predecessor of 1845 a number of prehistoric sites. This gives rise to questions about the environmental conditions near the shore of a large current in prehistoric times. The example of a reconstruction of the premedieval settlement landscape in the area of the present town of Pirna is trying to evaluate the hazard potential of the Saxon Upper Elbe and its tributaries for prehistoric settlement zones in the floodplain and in the areas bordering the floodplain – here especially the lower terrace edges where there are numerous archaeological places. For this, besides local and regional archaeological findings and quaternary geological outcrops, are also used those from whole Central Europe.
The starting point is the reconstruction of the natural relief of the present old town of Pirna before the foundation of the town. This is based on over 70 fossil outcrops in the ground, which was monitoring due to extensive restoration work of the past years and its archaeological supervision. A review of the results takes into account the highly variable, sometimes considerable thickness of sedimentary deposits (up to 5 m), taking as a basis general aspects of natural terrain levels of cities founded nearby riverbanks.
In connection with the ground openings were discovered prehistoric finds in Pirna. Their character and the image of their distribution  – to the natural spatial framework taken into consideration –  make it clear that the transition location from mountains breakthrough of the Elbe into the low landscape of the Elbe valley plain of Dresden strengthened the settlement suitability, primarily from traffic favor in the form of a presupposed land such as river traffic, their intersection included, was determined. This situation seems to have already emerged in the Linear Pottery Culture and had stock since then. In much the same shape they come up against in neighboring Dresden too. The reconstruction of the prehistoric settlement landscape of modern urban area of Pirna  – a opening space of two typical small Ore Mountain streams –  makes also be a significant change visible for the premedieval water network compared to the current state.
The focus of an investigation into flood hazard of early settlements the same is understandably the river Elbe itself, namely its appearance in the Holocene and the quaternary geological and hydrological aspects of their development after the last ice age. Statements to this theme are primarily allowed by archaeological finds and features in conjunction with geoarchaeological outcrops – particularly from the Vltava River estuary and the opening of the Dresden valley. They show that a continuous, mainly climate-controlled alternation of incisions and gravel depositions of the base of Elbe throughout the Holocene is evident as well as the fact that the river bed, with few exceptions, between the middle of the Lower Holozän and the middle of the Upper Holozän at a level significantly below the present lay.
A more advanced analysis of the hazard potential for the area of the later Pirnaer old town in particular and the Elbe valley plain of Dresden generally in premedieval periods leads to a reassessment of the flood risk for a settlement close-by river in this area. It follows that here for the lower terrace and even for the floodplain  – although those were 2 m lower than today on average –  the risk of fluvial disasters by far not existed in prehistoric times to the same extent as in the late Middle Ages and modern times. After the end of the glacial period was the Elbe at all in the early Subatlantic again in the event of a flood able to reach the surface of the lower terrace. This is further supported by perceptions on the original hydrology, which postulate much lower water flow and less frequent and far less massive floods before the Middle Ages. Only after the conversion of large parts of the mountain highlands in agrarian land reached the flood exposure of the rivers the extent of the present. The maximum flood levels of the modern age have doubled on the Elbe near Dresden compared to the mean Holocene about.
Floodplains can hold in Central Europe as prehistoric settlement landscapes, which also applies to the Saxon Elbe Valley, as examples of river-near settlements proves, particularly at the transitions from the lower terrace edge to the floodplain – in areas which were flooded only in recent centuries again and again by the current.

"The archaeological and paleoclimatic data suggest, however, the unrepresentative and essentially ahistorical quality of the epigraphic record, particularly for early historic Mesopotamia. Here the cuneiform record misses the early historic climate change, the structure and goals of Akkadian imperialism, the native historical screen enveloping adaptive responses, and the spatio-temporal dynamics of nomadism."

Multiproxy data from coprolites at the Connley Caves in central Oregon provide new evidence for diet, seasonal subsistence strategies, and human health during the middle and late Holocene. Macrobotanical, palynological, and faunal components show that plant taxa from wetland and dryland habitats functioned as dietary staples. Repeated and abundant representation of wetland resources coupled with small dryland seeds provide strong evidence for dietary continuity between ~ 5700 and 3200 calendar years ago. Seasonal availability of represented taxa indicates late summer and early fall habitation. Minimal evidence for parasitic infection and unusual constituents such as cordage raise questions regarding health and cultural behavior. As the first coprolite analysis for this time period in the northern Great Basin, this study contributes unique datasets that complement and clarify the regional understanding of hunter-gatherer settlement-subsistence strategies and food economy.

In the past the settlement pattern of middle Holocene Egypt was based on the presence or absence of material correlates including structures, stone tools, pottery, and domesticated plants and animals. Together these formed the traits of a Neolithic package that were thought to spread from southwest Asia to Egypt during the middle Holocene. Modern research now shows that the traits attributed to the Neolithic package did not develop uniformly over time and space, so the package concept is less useful. Contemporary approaches focus on processes such as mobility, occupation duration, and use-of-place to draw inferences about settlement pattern. These are measured through analysis of material culture such as stone artefacts and the placement of features on a landscape. However, more examples are required that use material culture types that are abundant and preserve well, such as pottery. Past research has focused on the analysis of a small proportion of pottery assemblages, typically whole vessels and decorated sherds, both used to form typologies and identify cultural groupings. Similarities in decorative styles or vessel forms are used to infer movement between different cultural groups. However, these culture-historical interpretations mean that large volumes of un-diagnostic sherds are often disregarded. This research uses non-destructive methods, such as x-ray fluorescence (XRF) and fragmentation ratios, to analyse all artefacts in pottery assemblages to understand the impact of the previously noted processes. XRF analysis is used to identify the geochemical signatures of the materials used in pottery manufacture. This analysis enables the identification of pottery that is not likely made locally and so provides a proxy for movement. The differential fragmentation of pottery is used in estimates of how many vessels the sherds in an assemblage represent and so provides a means for assessing occupation duration. Pottery from several places in Egypt that date to the middle Holocene are compared. Results suggest movement between locations beyond what was previously inferred based on culture-historical interpretations. These results are interpreted in the wider North African context.

"This paper discusses the results and wider significance of archaeological excavations undertaken on a Neolithic settlement located on the island of Marawah, in the Western Region of Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates.

Survey and excavation revealed the remains of seven prehistoric mounds associated with Neolithic structures. One of the structures measured approximately 4m long and 2m in width and, built out of stone, survived to a height of approximately 70cm. Finds include pottery, lithics, shell beads and bone. The site represents a unique architectural style for the Gulf Neolithic coastal communities, that does not have any obvious parallels. Radiocarbon analysis suggests the site was occupied around 7,600 years ago."

"For the past twenty years, the Khabur Plains of northeast Syria have been a testing ground for the Akkadian collapse c. 2200 BC and remnant post-Akkadian occupations. On May 2, 2012, a workshop for the presentation and discussion of the latest archaeological data was convened in Warsaw, at the 8th International Congress for the Archaeology of the Ancient Near East.  The fifteen research papers from that conference present the analyses and perspectives from eight excavated sites, Arbid, Barri, Chagar Bazar, Brak, Mohammed Diyab,  Leilan, Mozan, and Hamoukar, and two regional surveys. The new data include the Tell Leilan high-resolution radiocarbon chronology for the Akkadian collapse, an Akkadian palace built within the shell of a destroyed pre-Akkadian palace, The Unfinished Buildings at Tell Leilan and Tell Mohammed Diyab, the terminal occupations at Tell Brak, Chagar Bazar, Hamoukar, Arbid, Mohammed Diyab and Leilan, quantified regional settlement distributions across the Akkadian collapse, measured paleobotanical data for imperial Akkadian and remnant post-Akkadian agriculture, and documentation for the collapse of the imperial Akkadian administration."

This paper proposes that the Rice Lake region of south-central Ontario had substantial Early to Middle Archaic occupations (circa 8,900-7,500 RCYBP)-using evidence, from comprehensive regional surveys conducted in the 1980s and largely unpublished site excavation data from the 1970s. These occupations were contemporaneous with gradual Holocene flooding of the Rice Lake basin due to isostatic rebound. Two projectile point "horizons" are documented: 1) a late Early Archaic bifurcate base horizon, (typically on small triangular bladed, eared corner-notched points with deep basal concavity); and 2) an early Middle Archaic corner-notched/stemmed horizon (with small, triangular bladed points varying from corner-notched to straight stemmed and eared, but lacking base bifurcation). Projectile point data is presented from 14 sites on or near Rice Lake and the Trent River. These sites suggest that widely distributed late Early Archaic bifurcate and early Middle Archaic stemmed point horizons existed during a lengthy period of cool and wet climate. A hypsithermal warm and dry interval began about 6,560 RCYBP after the early Middle Archaic (Yu and McAndrews 1994). Detailed water level mapping in relation to site locations indicates a significant focus on wetlands which were being constantly created by incremental flooding of the Rice Lake basin and also much wetter than modern interior valley environments near streams, headwaters, and artesian springs. The juxtaposition of riverine, estuarine, lacustrine and marshland environments on island and palaeo-shoreline Rice Lake sites would have presented considerable ecodiversity and resource exploitation opportunities to Archaic populations.

APA Occasional Papers available online by student, associate or professional membership in Association of Professional Archaeologists or one-time fee download..

"Thirty research papers by an international group of archaeologists redefine the cultural development of Northern Mesopotamia in the first half of the third millennium B.C. The papers reflect the latest understandings of society, economy, and chronology, derived from excavations and survey in both Syria and Iraq, that lead to the 'second urban revolution.' Originally prepared for a Yale University conference in December 1988, these widely distributed and cited papers are now published in their revised texts, with figures and photographs, in a volume fundamental for West Asian archaeology."

The Spring Creek site (25FT31) in southwestern Nebraska has been an important part of under-standing Early Archaic adaptations to the central Plains since its excavation in 1961. A reanalysis offaunal remains from these excavations suggests that the Spring Creek site is a task-oriented bison pro-cessing site occupied for a limited duration in the late summer or early fall. Traditional zooarchaeologicalmethods combined with stable isotope data indicate an archaeofauna dominated by bison from a singleherd suggesting a subsistence system where bison hunting is not an unfamiliar activity. These ideascontradict many extant models of Early Archaic subsistence in the central Plains which de-emphasizebison resources in favor of a broad-spectrum foraging strategy. Finally, it is suggested that subsistencemodels developed for Middle Holocene hunter-gatherers in other areas of North America are not neces-sarily appropriate for coeval groups on the central Plains.

On 24 April 2012, the Libyan Desert Expedition completed the very first 3,700 kilometer circumnavigation of Egypt using 70 year old jeeps.  Along this previously unexplored route, the team discovered an undocumented prehistoric settlement located approximately 90 kilometers north of the Gilf Al- Kibir . Two undocumented sites possibly related to the Long Range Desert Group (LRDG) which operated in Egypt in the 1940’s, were also identified.

The radiocarbon method for determining the absolute age acquired wide application in marine geological research as well.
In the 1977-1980 period analysis was made of 28 specimens taken from seven drillings of bottom sediments from the periphery of the shelf.
The results obtained show that Holocene sediments, stratigraphically identified according to mollusks fauna, are distributed in the following age range: Upper Holocene — between 0 and 4 thousand years; Middle Holocene — between 4 and 7 thousand years; Lower Holocene — between 7 and 9 thousand years.
Upper Pleistocene (Novoeuxine) deposits have an age range between 9 and more than 31 thousand years. According to the analyses obtained, the boundary between Holocene and Pleistocene is dated to about 9 thousand years.
The deposits containing Chaudinian fauna have absolute age exceeding 50 thousand years.
The absolute datings obtained make possible to solve a number of problems in the sphere of sedimentology, e. g. determination of the sedimentation rate, absolute masses and a number of paleographic problems.

Nos últimos dez anos, há um crescente esforço na Arqueologia Amazônica para repensar as mudanças sociais e econômicas acerca dos processos de longa duração dos povos indígenas durante o período pré-colonial. O Período Formativo, cunhado para alocar tais populações em um estágio intermediário de evolução, vem sendo descontruído em prol de perspectivas alternativas sobre as formas de organização e interação que refletem o tecer e o constante re-tecer das redes ameríndias, com base em historicidades cíclicas contra-estatais que inibem a centralização política. Neste contexto, diversos estudos vêm contribuindo para a desvinculação dos traços materiais “formativos”, tais quais a emergência da vida sedentária, de plantas domesticadas, da produção de cerâmicas utilitárias e um processo progressivo de intensificação da produtividade agrícola. Há uma gradativa mudança do fator ambiental, de gatilho de adaptações humanas para produto das escolhas sociais na formação de florestas antrópicas e criação de uma biodiversidade de plantas úteis. A crítica ao determinismo agrícola e à presença de staple foods se combina com um crescente investimento na compreensão acerca da convivência entre espécies domesticadas e silvestres e da existência de contextos de abandono de espécies domesticadas (como o milho), e nos abrem espaço para repensar o papel do cultivo na Amazônia Antiga.
Neste cenário, a presente pesquisa teve como objetivo reunir e produzir dados arquebotânicos que permitissem uma avaliação do modelo de intensificação agrícola e da construção de florestas antropogênicas. O Sudoeste Amazônico, marcado por uma transição entre savanas, cerrados e florestas, é a região em que teria ocorrido a domesticação de importantes cultivares indígenas (como a mandioca e a pupunha), e foi caracterizado como um dos locais de avanço do Período Formativo no passado. Através de uma análise diacrônica dos macro-vestígios vegetais presentes no sambaqui Monte Castelo entre as ocupações dos estratos Sinimbu (cal 7.423 – 6.936 A.P. a cal. 4.987 – 4.566 A.P.) e Bacabal (cal. 4.628 – 3.982 a cal. 803 – 624 A.P.), buscamos avaliar estas mudanças socioeconômicas transcorridas entre o Holoceno Médio e Tardio. Caracterizamos uma assembleia botânica formada por espécies domesticadas, manejadas e silvestres, típicas de diferentes ambientes, que indicam uma prática conjunta e constante de cultivo, manejo e coleta, que pode ter sido modificada no Holoceno Tardio por conta de transformações sociais na bacia do Rio Guaporé. Em suma, acompanhamos a história dos cultivos, junto à história dos processos de mudanças e continuidades nos padrões de mobilidade humana, e de dispersão das espécies identificadas, permeando-nos por um debate crítico acerca dos conceitos de agricultura, domesticação, evolução e complexidade social.

Faunal analysis, with a strong interdisciplinary emphasis, has played a key role in Pampean archaeology since the advent of the ecologic-systemic paradigm in the 1980s. From this point on, the archaeology of the region has made remarkable advances due to the increase in the number of sites investigated and the consequent generation of data that has contributed to fill preexisting spatial and chronological gaps. The present archaeofaunal record of the Pampean region has a broader temporal and spatial distribution. This situation encourages a new integration of the data and the building and/or rebuilding of former models of faunal exploitation.
The goal of this paper is to discuss the present state of the most outstanding aspects of the archaeozoological studies in the Pampean region. The time frame involved is the late Pleistocene to Holocene and the main issues discussed consist of a summary of archaeozoological evidences obtained from the region (sites, location, chronology, present and exploited species, etc.) and of the major faunal exploitation patterns, both on a regional and areal scale, throughout the studied period. The topics included in order to characterize this process are the climatic changes that operated on and influenced the species, differential species extinction and survival, exploited species diversity according to each studied period, procurement and processing techniques, and intensity of faunal exploitation, etc.
The evidence gathered and discussed for the purpose of this paper enable the characterization of the subsistence patterns of the region into at least three types. The late Pleistocene-early Holocene period (12,000-6500 BP) is characterized by a generalized regional economy. In general terms, a broad spectrum of resources would have been exploited by humans as suggested by the presence and diversity of consummed species during this time period. Given the fluctuating climatic conditions registered (climatic improvement-return to arid conditions-hypsythermal), a subsistence patttern composed of a broad diet would have been a suitable strategy to promote in risky environments. Both taxonomic diversity and richness are greater when compared with the following time period (middle Holocene).
The faunal richness recorded from four areas of the region within the middle Holocene (6500-3500 BP) is similar to that from the previous period. However, only a few species showed evidence of exploitation. This situation would be the result of specialized regional economies, with emphasis on guanaco (Lama guanicoe). The gap in the archaeological record at about 6000-5000 BP makes it harder to understand this process of change, and it is possible that this type of economy belonged to a more stable environment that may have established itself during the arid climatic trends after the Hypsythermal (8000-6000 BP), around 5000-4500 BP. 
Finally, the archaeological record of almost all the areas of the region from the late Holocene (3500-500 BP) show an important taxonomic diversity and richness, each with its intrinsic peculiarities, that suggests the existence of areal economies of diversification and intensification of resource exploitation. These economies may have undergone changes towards 1000 BP as a consequence of the establishment of modern ecosystems and the hispanic-indigenous contact. Other non-faunal archaeological evidence from the late Holocene, such as an occupational redundancy of some sectors of the region, the introduction of new technologies (e.g. pottery, the bow and arrow, etc.), the intense use of preexisting technologies (grinding artefacts), long distance procurement of lithic raw material, the presence of exotic and ornamental elements, among others, suggest the existence of a pattern of intensification of these hunter-gatherer societies. These different strategies provide the pampean region as a whole with an important level of variability which should be understood in both ecologic terms and as the result of a complex social network of socio-cultural differentiation between areas that, however, would maintain strong bonds of socio-economic interdependency.

Human activity along the Galana River inside Tsavo National Park, Kenya extends from 6000 years BP until at least 1300 years BP. This time period in East Africa predates and includes the Pastoral Neolithic – geographically and temporally linked early cattle-herding cultures comprised of autonomous communities with loose cultural connections to one another. Data from some sites located in the Great Rift Valley, Lake Victoria Basin and Central Kenyan Highlands indicate that after 3000 years BP, residential mobility patterns increased and pastoralists adopted a strong dependence on maintaining and culling herds of domesticated animals. This pattern is not borne out in Tsavo, where artefact analyses indicate that people had restricted mobility and relied primarily on exploitation of an endoaquatic resource base. This study hypothesises that subdecadal periodicity in El Niño/Southern Oscillation index (ENSO) along with a general trend toward aridification of East African landscapes provided the environmental backdrop for a subsistence regime focused primarily within riparian environments of the Coastal Lowlands region.

Paleoenvironmental data indicate that, in a number of regions worldwide, the middle Holocene (between 8000 and 4000 BP) was hot and dry relative to other periods. In some regions, gaps in archaeological records co-occur with middle Holocene droughts. Such co-occurrences are often interpreted in terms of population decline (increased mortality or abandonment), particularly in regions that are arid even during non-drought years. Demographic hypotheses sometimes go untested because population decline is consistent with existing perceptions, e.g., life in deserts is precarious. This chapter compares archaeological and other data from northern Patagonia (southern Mendoza Province, Argentina) to predictions of optimal foraging models to generate alternative hypotheses regarding sparse middle Holocene records. New data suggest that decreased rainfall during the middle Holocene may not have had a negative effect—and perhaps even had a positive one—on foraging efficiency in southern Mendoza, and that population decline is not the most likely explanation for the region’s sparse record. This chapter also probes basic assumptions that fuel the perception that northern Argentine Patagonia was marginal for prehistoric human habitation, namely: (1) deserts, inhospitable to begin with, only get worse with drought, and (2) prehistoric desert-dwellers were unwilling or unable to adapt to environmental changes. Both the northern Patagonia case study and more general arguments regarding biased perception have implications for other world regions where archaeological gaps and droughts co-occur, including the North American Great Basin.

This issue will look at the climatic, environmental and social dimensions of the Little Ice Age (LIA) in the Mediterranean, between the second half of the 13th to 19th centuries. Contributions should derive from the Meditterranean area, including its mountainous borders, and can include sedimentary and palaeoecological records, in addition to written and iconographic sources. The editors particularly encourage multidisciplinary studies.
- What were the specificities of the LIA in the Mediterranean (magnitude, chronology)?
- Was there significant climate variability during the LIA (phases of drought and increased humidity)?
- What were the consequences of the LIA on morphosedimentary systems (fluvial responses, catchment erosion, coastal impacts)?
- What were the social impacts, including adaptations, to these climate changes?

"The abrupt climate change events of the Holocene radically altered precipitation, fundamental for cereal agriculture, across the expanse of late prehistoric–early historic cultures known from the archaeological record in these regions. Social adaptations to reduced agro-production, in both dry-farming and irrigation agriculture regions, are visible in the archaeological record during each abrupt climate change event in West Asia. Chronological refinement, in both the paleoclimate and archaeological records, and transfer functions for both precipitation and agro-production are needed to understand precisely the evident causal linkages."

En este trabajo se presentan los resultados obtenidos del sitio Cantera de Rodados Villalonga (Partido de Patagones, Provincia de Buenos Aires), en las adyacencias del curso inferior del río Colorado. La particularidad de este sitio reside en que los materiales estudiados - restos óseos humanos - fueron provistos por un coleccionista quien, además, brindó detalles contextuales de este hallazgo. Sobre esta base, y con el apoyo de literatura geológica disponible para el sector de la cantera, se discute el contexto estratigráfico en el cual se recuperaron los entierros. La muestra de restos óseos humanos se encuentra constituida por tres individuos adultos de ambos sexos. La cronología radiocarbónica indica edades que corresponden al Holoceno medio y los valores isotópicos sugieren dietas mixtas a predominantemente marinas. Estos resultados ofrecen un nuevo estado de la cuestión, ya que las cronologías obtenidas para el área de estudio no superaban los ca. 3000 años AP (Holoceno tardío) y las tendencias isotópicas indicaban dietas predominantemente terrestres. Este caso de estudio pone de manifiesto la importancia de considerar en las agendas de investigación a aquellas colecciones de particulares que, cuando poseen información contextual básica, pueden proveer datos que generen información novedosa.

"The 2006 and 2008 excavations of the Leilan Acropolis Northwest focused upon the multi-phase building first discovered in 2002 in a test trench ....that exposed. .. a four-room house and courtyard. At the conclusion of the 2002 excavation it was assumed that the four-room house would subsequently prove to be part of a still larger structure or structures.  That was not the case, however.... "

"Societies adapted quickly to altered dry-farming cereal production at the onset and terminus of the 4.2–3.9 kaBP (4200–3900 years ago, or 2200–1900 BCE) abrupt climate change. Relatively high-resolution and independent
archaeological and paleoclimate records document that the period of abrupt climate change began with:
1) regional abandonments;
2) habitat-tracking to riparian, paludal, and karst spring-fed refugia; and
3) nomadization (subsistence-transfer from agriculture to pastoral nomadism). Adaptive social responses at the termination of the abrupt climate change included: 1) sedentarization; 2) political state formation; 3) increased and enhanced surplus agro-production; and 4) politico-territorial expansion. This 300-year period provides, therefore, an alluring Holocene example of societal responses to abrupt climate change across the eastern Mediterranean and west Asian landscapes, and in particular across steep gradient ecotones of modern Syria and Lebanon.... "

Fecha de recepción: 6 de agosto de 2018 Fecha de aceptación: 1 de febrero de 2019 RESUMEN Este artículo tiene como finalidad dar a conocer las primeras tendencias de la tecnología lítica del Holoceno medio en el curso inferior del río Colorado (Provincia de Buenos Aires). Para ello se analizó el conjunto artefactual del sitio La Modesta, cuya ocupación se ubica entre los ca. 5900-5600 años AP. Hasta el momento, la mayor parte de la información generada para este lapso dentro del área se remitía al estudio de entierros humanos hallados en canteras de rodados modernas localizadas en cercanías la costa Atlántica. El análisis de los materiales del sitio La Modesta, ubicado en el interior, constituye la primera aproximación a la tecnología lítica de un período escasamente abordado para la transición pampeano-patagónica oriental. Como resultado de este análisis se estableció la explotación mayoritaria de rocas adquiridas a nivel areal, las cadenas operativas de talla, los métodos y técnicas empleados, las modalidades de producción del instrumental y las características de los grupos tipológicos confeccionados. Esto permitió ampliar el conocimiento sobre la tecnología lítica ya existente para otros lapsos (Holoceno tar-dío inicial y final) en el área de estudio. En líneas generales se observa una continuidad de los conocimientos aplicados en la gestión de rocas que poseían los grupos que habitaron el curso inferior del río Colorado a lo largo del Holoceno medio y tardío.

The Indian Summer Monsoon (ISM), a significant part of the global monsoon system, is driven by several climate forcing parameters. With the growing pace of global climate change scenario, there is need to focus on generating more high-resolution records of past monsoon. The ISM reconstructions from Core Monsoon Zone (CMZ) of India, which represents all-India Summer Monsoon Rainfall, are useful for a better understanding of its past variability. Such reconstructions from the CMZ are rather sparse and require detailed study based on various climate proxies. Here, we focus on the reconstruction of ISM variability during the mid-Holocene, based on stalagmite oxygen isotope ratios from the Kotumsar cave, Central India. We show that with decreasing insolation, monsoon started declining at the beginning of the mid-Holocene from 8.5 to 6.5 ka BP, which is also observed in the previous ISM reconstructions with coarser resolutions. However, a gradual increase in the rainfall is observed from 6.5 to 5.6 ka BP, a feature which is also noted in the East Asian Monsoon reconstruction from the Dongge cave. Our record mainly emphasizes on the occurrence of several abrupt weak monsoon events throughout the mid-Holocene. The occurrence of 8.2 and 5.9 ka abrupt weak monsoon events suggest that ISM variability is tightly bound to North-Atlantic Oscillation (NAO). We also demonstrate that ISM during the mid-Holocene was partly sensitive to El-Nino Southern Oscillation (ENSO), and displayed an inverse relationship.

Este trabajo tiene como objetivo principal caracterizar el registro bioarqueológico y el contexto (estratigrafía y cronología) de cuatro nuevos sitios arqueológicos localizados en el área de transición pampeano-patagónica oriental adscritos al Holoceno Medio y Tardío inicial (ca. 6.000-1.000 años AP). Se propone evaluar y discutir las variaciones en las prácticas mortuorias y en el uso del espacio (costa-interior) por parte de grupos cazadores-recolectores. Se presentan los resultados de las modalidades de entierro, análisis cuantitativos, tafonómicos, y sexo-etarios. En los sitios localizados en el interior los restos están muy fragmentados y afectados por importantes factores tafonómicos (e.g., meteorización, abrasión sedimentaria), mientras que en el sector costero, la completitud anatómica es mayor, y los resultados tafonómicos indican estabilidad en la historia depositacional. La modalidad de entierro en los sitios costeros durante el Holoceno Medio habría sido primaria, en tanto ésta no pudo ser determinada en el interior. Por su parte, para el Holoceno Tardío inicial, mientras en la costa se registraron inhumaciones primarias, en el interior se observaron modalidades secundarias. La cronología obtenida indica la reocupación sistemática durante el Holoceno Medio y Tardío inicial tanto de los sectores costeros como interiores. Finalmente, los resultados se integran con la información cronológica obtenida sobre restos óseos humanos y las modalidades de entierro definidas para el sudeste Pampeano y Norpatagonia con el fin de discutir la contribución del caso de estudio a la bioarqueología de dichas regiones.

The purpose of this work is to characterize the bioarchaeological record and the contexts (stratigraphy and chronology) of recently recorded Middle and initial Late Holocene archaeological sites located in the eastern Pampa-Patagonia transition. The aims are to evaluate and discuss the variations in mortuary practices and in the use of space (coast-inland) by hunter-gatherers during ca. 6,000-1,000 years BP. Quantitative, taphonomic, sex and age-at-death as well as burial modalities data are presented. The obtained chronology indicates systematic reoccupation during the Middle and initial Late Holocene of coastal and inland sectors. While in inland sites human bone remains are highly fragmented and affected by important post-depositional factors (e.g., weathering, abrasion), in the coastal sector anatomical integrity is greater and taphonomy indicates stability in the depositional history. During the Middle Holocene, while burial modality at coastal sites would have been primary, it could not be determined in inland sectors. For the initial Late Holocene, while on the Atlantic coast primary burials were recorded, secondary modalities were detected in inland sectors. Finally, the results are integrated with the chronological information obtained on human skeletal remains and burial modalities defined for Southeastern Pampa and Northpatagonia in order to discuss the contribution of the case study presented here to the bioarchaeology of these regions.

In this brief video, Raven Garvey summarizes her forthcoming book, _Patagonian Prehistory: Human Ecology and Cultural Evolution in the Land of Giants_   

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_xtIz7h5YNE 

University of Utah Press. Anticipated release: mid-June 2021

https://uofupress.lib.utah.edu/patagonian-prehistory/ 

https://www.amazon.com/Patagonian-Prehistory-Ecology-Cultural-Evolution/dp/1647690269/ref=sr_1_1?dchild=1&keywords=patagonian+prehistory&qid=1619013252&sr=8-1 

“This book is not just about regional prehistory—it’s about how to think about a region’s prehistory, with Patagonia as a case study. If you want an example of how to think about prehistory from the point of view of two evolutionary paradigms—human behavioral ecology and co-evolutionary theory—you will not be disappointed.”
—Robert L. Kelly, professor, anthropology, University of Wyoming

This paper proposes that the Rice Lake region of south-central Ontario had substantial Early to Middle Archaic occupations (circa 8,900-7,500 RCYBP)-using evidence, from comprehensive regional surveys conducted in the 1980s and largely unpublished site excavation data from the 1970s. These occupations were contemporaneous with gradual Holocene flooding of the Rice Lake basin due to isostatic rebound. Two projectile point "horizons" are documented: 1) a late Early Archaic bifurcate base horizon, (typically on small triangular bladed, eared corner-notched points with deep basal concavity); and 2) an early Middle Archaic corner-notched/stemmed horizon (with small, triangular bladed points varying from corner-notched to straight stemmed and eared, but lacking base bifurcation). Projectile point data is presented from 14 sites on or near Rice Lake and the Trent River. These sites suggest that widely distributed late Early Archaic bifurcate and early Middle Archaic stemmed point horizons existed during a lengthy period of cool and wet climate. A hypsithermal warm and dry interval began about 6,560 RCYBP after the early Middle Archaic (Yu and McAndrews 1994). Detailed water level mapping in relation to site locations indicates a significant focus on wetlands which were being constantly created by incremental flooding of the Rice Lake basin and also much wetter than modern interior valley environments near streams, headwaters, and artesian springs. The juxtaposition of riverine, estuarine, lacustrine and marshland environments on island and palaeo-shoreline Rice Lake sites would have presented considerable ecodiversity and resource exploitation opportunities to Archaic populations. 2

In this paper, we analyze the lithic assemblages from three sites from the Central Plateau of Santa Cruz in the Argentine Patagonia. Functional analysis was combined with a techno-morphological and distributional approach, the investigation on raw materials and the study of the technological strategies of production and consumption. The significance of combining functional analysis with other research methods involving lithic remains is emphasized. By articulating different methodologies, it is possible to understand the systems of technological organization.

Two sites refer to Final Pleistocene occupations (Cerro Tres Tetas 1 and Casa del Minero 1). The integration of approaches showed the diversity of strategies developed in the production and use of tools, as well as the existence of activity areas within the sites. The third site is a Middle Holocene context (Cueva 13 of Los Toldos). The combination of perspectives allowed a redefinition of the toolkit structure and showed that blade production was part of a standardized technological system.

"From 1872 to 1896 between twelve and twenty-nine million Indians were sacrificed to famine during El Niño-Southern Oscillation-forced droughts, lest the British Empire replace the indigenous social safety nets dismantled earlier by their revenue-maximizing administrators. For this and similar periods of imperial social accounting and instrumental climate recording, natural drought is distinguishable from anthropogenic famine (Watts 1987; Davis 2001; Li 2007).  Prior to the instrumental climate record, however, is there an archaeological path to this famine-drought distinction, or to weighing the contribution of natural and cultural forces within drought responses --- such as regional abandonment, politico-economic collapse and habitat-tracking?
   
In 1971, the editors of the American Journal of Archaeology published “The Dark Ages of Egypt” (Bell 1971) to almost deafening silence.  Bell’s thesis was simple, but profound: the collapse of the Old Kingdom, ca. 2200 BC, was caused by Nile flow failure that ushered in the First Intermediate Period. In the absence of instrumental records and paleoclimate proxies, Bell’s data were Vandier’s  (1931) Egyptian famine records. But only one Egyptologist felt challenged sufficiently to respond, and he did that in an obscure Egyptological journal  (Vercoutter 1973).
    Twenty years later similar and synchronous issues were revisited by Tell Leilan archaeological research (Weiss et al 1993) that hypothesized north Mesopotamian and Akkadian regional collapse at ca. 2200 BC/4.2 kaBP caused by abrupt climate change-forced reductions in dry-farming agro-production. These arguments were antithetically challenged soon thereafter by some new and many old arguments, and were also soon challenged and buttressed by new paleoclimate and archaeological data.  Now, twenty years later, however, these same issues still dominate the concerns of another generation of archaeologists. What is the problem?"